Cristiano Ronaldo ha tracciato la via. Benzema, Fabinho e Mané l'hanno seguita. Dopo un mercato che ha superato ogni logica, la Saudi Pro League ha l'intenzione di ritagliarsi il suo spazio tra i principali campionati al mondo. Da domani, quando Al-Ahli e Al Hazm daranno il via alla stagione, si scoprirà se la strada intrapresa è quella giusta. "L'Arabia Saudita sogna di emulare la Premier League - ha spiegato Simon Chadwick, professore di economia di sport - Gli appassionati iniziano ad interrogarsi sulla possibilità di seguire il campionato, ma se ci saranno degli effettivi benefici lo si saprà solo tra cinque o dieci anni".
L'obiettivo del principe Mohammed bin Salman è quello di modernizzare l'economia del paese, rendendola meno dipendente dal petrolio. Tuttavia c'è chi sostiene sia solo un modo per distogliere l'attenzione dalla situazione dei diritti umani. "La maggior parte dei titoli riguarda i trasferimenti dei grandi giocatori e non le lunghe pene inflitte a chi si ribella", le parole di un diplomatico da Riad. Quello che è certo è che l'Arabia Saudita sta cambiando anche il calcio europeo.
L'intervista a Filippo Maria Ricci (Rete Uno Sport 10.08.2023, 18h30)
RSI Sport 10.08.2023, 20:23
Il servizio sul calciomercato in Arabia Saudita (Rete Uno Sport 11.07.2023, 12h30)
RSI Sport 11.07.2023, 12:26
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